The present invention relates to the field of guns.
The path taken by the bullet shot from a gun is determined primarily by the direction in which the barrel of the gun is aimed. Traditionally, aiming a gun was done by aligning the barrel sights. Recently, telescopic sights have been used to replace or augment the barrel sights. More recently still, lasers have been used to replace or augment other types of sights. Laser sights have now been used on many different types of guns, including pistols and carbines.
In laser sighting, a battery powered laser may be mounted on a gun, and may be operated by means of a switch. The laser emits a beam of coherent visual light which indicates the direction in which the barrel of the gun is aimed. By observing the reflection of the laser beam, a user can modify his or her aim. Of course, depending on many factors including the projectile being used, the thrust imparted to the projectile, the distance to the target, wind, and altitude, it may be desirable to aim the gun at an appropriate offset from the target rather than at the target itself. Regardless of where the gun is aimed, laser sighting offers numerous advantages, including the ability to aim a gun more rapidly and more accurately than with other sighting systems, and the ability to aim a gun accurately while holding it in a non-standard position, such as when firing from the hip or on the run.
One of the problems encountered in prior hand-held guns using lasers is that placement of the laser on the gun may obstruct standard sighting or adversely affect operation of the gun. For example, placement of the laser on top of the barrel may make it impossible or impractical to use other barrel sighting means in the event of a failure of the laser or of a decision not to use the laser. Placement of the laser to the side of the barrel may imbalance the gun either by the weight or the bulk of the laser. Moreover, nonintegral lasers mounted on top of the barrel were awkward and cumbersome.
Another problem encountered in using lasers to sight hand-held guns is that placement of the laser switch on the gun may adversely affect operation of the gun.